GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Grand Rapids Public Schools will spend nearly $7.5 million from its cash reserves and look at implementing pay-to-play sports as part of a solution to a budget deficit that once stood at $13.5 million.

Superintendent Teresa Weatherall Neal said the new $195 million budget, approved by an 8-0 vote Monday, June 16, accomplishes the district's goals without making deep classroom cuts.

The district could have filled the $13.5 million budget gap through its fund balance - though potentially reducing the system's reserves to a dangerously low $2.1 million - but administrators say increased state funding and a series of cost-savings moves have changed that bleak picture.

The most notable difference could be the possibility of pay-to-play fees for athletics. District departments have been told to make cuts, and the athletic department must find $200,000 in new revenue.